Dreams vs Goals

I'm a dreamer. I love to dream big, wild, hugely crazy dreams and wonder what it'd be like to actually accomplish those dreams.

There's a difference between a dream and a goal. A goal is a dream with a deadline attached. [I'm not sure who first came up with that phrase; I didn't invent it. Wish I did!]

Goals are dreams that have a timeline associated with them. They tell you what you are going to accomplish, when you will accomplish it by, and how you will go about achieving that goal. Goals give you the roadmap so that you can accomplish that dream.

In my own life, I easily dream. I come up with ideas and plans but it often stops there. Rarely are timelines and road maps attached to those dreams. They aren't goals, and they likely won't be accomplished unless I do something about it.

Here's a challenge to all of us dreamers. The next time we're dreaming something wild and crazy and wishing it would come true, let's DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Let's get out a piece of paper and write the dream down. Then, give it a timeline. When will you go on your vacation? When will you lose x pounds by? When will you start your own business by? And then, let's give it a road map; how are we going to accomplish these dreams? We need a plan. We need steps – baby steps that we can work toward and see results, little by little.

Let's turn our dreams into goals, and finally into reality.